Online video: The long and short of it

It starts innocently enough. You visit YouTube for, say, a few minutes of football bloopers. Then you switch to funny dog antics, followed by goofy juvenile stuntmen. Before long you've inadvertently spent 30 minutes watching videos on your computer.

Thirty minutes is the length of a TV show -- but would you sit down in front of your computer with the intent of watching a sitcom online? Or would you just go watch regular TV instead?

Much rides on that question, and a lot of smart money is betting you'll watch not only 30-minute shows online, but films and documentaries that last hours.

Prominent among that smart money is Joost. The online video service, currently being beta-tested, is from the same guys behind Skype. Like regular television, Joost is supported by advertising and boasts professionally produced content from major studios. It's full-screen video, too, like real TV.

It differs from TV in how the video gets to you: instead of broadcast, cable or satellite delivery, it's transmitted through the Internet via peer-to-peer technology. But while there are interactive features, like the ability to text-chat on-screen during a show, the overall experience is more or less like regular TV -- passive.

Joost isn't alone. Babelgum, VeohTV and others are also bringing the TV experience to your computer. While Joost seeks partners such as Viacom and CNN, Babelgum wants independent producers so it can offer, as its slogan boasts, "TV experience, Internet substance."

But will these services catch on? And if they do, will users abandon YouTube for more professionally produced content?

Constable denies role in YouTube speeding video

A constable who looks similar to an officer shown letting off a speeding motorist in a video has denied it was him.

The footage, posted on the internet site YouTube this month, showed a policeman turning a blind eye to an English tourist clocked at 161kmh on the Desert Road.

The tape was pulled from the site after inquiries by The Dominion Post.

The Central district commander, Inspector Mark Lammas, said yesterday that police had interviewed a constable who looked similar to the policeman shown in still photographs taken from the tape.

"He's unequivocally said it wasn't him."

Police had requested a copy of the tape from YouTube but had not yet received a response.

They would try to enhance photographs they had.

Mr Lammas said the tape could be "somewhat historic", based on the uniform worn by the policeman and the fact that it appeared to be summer.

"The officer is not wearing a visibility vest, which one would expect for someone doing traffic duties."

The video shows two men yelling in delight as they reach 161kmh before they are stopped by a police car.

The officer told the driver the fine for being 30kmh over the limit was $300, but said "that's a bit of a dent in the wallet, isn't it?"

He let him off with a warning, telling the men to enjoy their stay.

NEOANDERTALS post new video

Estonian ultra-brutal death metallers NEOANDERTALS have posted their video for the title track of "Neanderthals Were Master Butchers" on YouTube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rx7BRmMWaYQ

A promotional text accompanying the clip reveals the ideas behind the concept:

"This video takes us into the world beyond the concept described on the NEOANDERTALS album "Neanderthals Were Master Butchers". That LP was all about the Neanderthals and the rising of the undead neo-Neanderthal menace. But what happens when the neo-Neanderthals have put an end to mankind? The Neanderthals believed that the spirits of the dead, whose body would not be defleshed, will come back to haunt the living. Therefore the annihilators from the last primate wars will make sure that every single carrion in this post-survival world is freed from its flesh. Old motors and butchering devices are robustly reused by the semi-intelligent neo-Neanderthal zombies to smash the leftovers into a utter mess of marrow and flesh. Every piece of working machinery decorated with the skulls of sapiens. Scenes of skinned carcasses stripped of meat mixed with clips of the band performing."

The concert footage was captured on tape on the 18th of May 2006 at a show in Rock Café, Tallinn, Estonia.
Performing line-up:
Rain Pohlak - Basses and Vocals
Roland Seer - Drums

"Neanderthals Were Master Butchers" was recorded on July 3, 2006 at Matrix Studios in Tallinn, Estonia. The band put the finishing touches on the CD in August 2006, 150 years after the first Neanderthal fossil finds in Neander Valley in August 1856. Mixing and mastering was handled by NEOANDERTALS mainman Rain Pohlak. It was the first and last NEOANDERTALS album for drummer Roland Seer, who has now been replaced by female drummer Sandra Vungi.

"Neanderthals Were Master Butchers" was made available exclusively in the Estonian market on February 17 through Heli Records. A worldwide version of "Neanderthals Were Master Butchers" is pressed and is due shortly via Forensick Music.

For more information, visit www.neoandertals.com